- Microsoft should come clean with its user community. The company needs to acknowledge its missteps and offer real, meaningful opt-outs to the users who want them, preferably in a single unified screen. It also needs to be straightforward in separating security updates from operating system upgrades going forward, and not try to bypass user choice and privacy expectations.
The EFF gives a good summary of Microsoft's shady practices and the privacy concerns many of us have regarding Windows 10. I don't think this was intended to be exhaustive. For example, they neglected to mention that Home and Pro users can no longer disable third party "recommendations" from the MS Store (or the MS Store itself) after the anniversary update. It also doesn't get into the widespread technical problems that many people seem to be having.
Regardless, it's nice to see some larger and more respectable groups getting on this. I've been amazed at how the mainstream tech sites (e.g. PCWorld. Ars Technica, and ZDNet) have been so dismissive of many folks' privacy concerns.
For me personally, the aggressive and dishonest ways that MS pushed the Windows 10 upgrade was enough in and of itself not to upgrade, and every story about some other restriction or glitch just makes me happier that I did. My hope is that by the time I'm in a position to build a new gaming PC (probably this time next year), things will be different. But in the meantime, I'm going to do as much as I can to support Linux gaming (which is getting better and better), so that hopefully it'll be a truly viable alternative for gamers by that time. A little competition never hurt, and from a purely personal perspective, I don't want to have to choose between my hobby and my privacy.
I hope Valve's push towards linux will increase momentum.
That's been a big help. Right at about 50% of my Steam library has a Linux version, and it tends to be some of the stuff I've put the most time in: Civ V, Prison Architect, etc. Plus most of the stuff I can play on my laptop too. I just bought Rimworld and Kingdom: New Lands. These are the first games I've bought in months, and both have Linux versions.
I almost switched to Linux a year ago because they had already released the Linux version of Steam and Dota 2. That was always all I needed from Steam, anyway. Maybe I'll get to finally play Watch_Dogs, too, when I get a proper PC for it. It's on the account, anyway.
Yep, although a relatively small percentage of my library, which is surprising since it's 99% Sierra adventure games. But Colonization works, which is probably my favorite, as does TIE Fighter. And I could probably get most of the rest working in Play on Linux or just the Linux version of DOSBox. Speaking of which, I've been meaning to play back through Crusader: No Remorse....
Love this article! I've also been baffled by the reactions of some people in regards to privacy concerns. Google did something in the same vein recently. In email, they have a screen that asks if you want them to follow you around and take note of each website you're on that has Google ads on them. If you hit the big highlighted button, the answer was that you wanted them to follow you around. If you wanted to opt out, you had to hit the tiny words that said "more options" and choose between 3 choices that were all vague. None said simply opt out. One of the arguments I've seen for why Microsoft is getting away with so many privacy invasions is that everyone else is doing it, and no one expects privacy anymore. I hope people are wrong about that. I think Microsoft feels that its OS is so integrated into people's systems that they'll just stop noticing. In some ways, they may be right. I had a Windows 7 operating system when all this controversy happened. It crashed, so I had to get a new computer. It now has Window 10 on it. It is too much of a hassle to change out this OS. I've done all the privacy selection I can on set-up, but it's clear that it's not much. I'm just hoping that some of the lawsuits will be effective or that changing OS will become a lot more user-friendly.Time after time, with each update, Microsoft chose to employ questionable tactics to cause users to download a piece of software that many didn’t want.
Otherwise, Microsoft may find that it has inadvertently discovered just how far it can push its users before they abandon a once-trusted company for a better, more privacy-protective solution.
You are probably aware of it, but to be safe here are some of the privacy tweaks you could do in addition: Article that talks about traffic blocking in Windows 10 and uses DisableWinTracking application. I've also seen one article that talks about disabling hosts from the system itself. I don't have source, but I have the instructions I've copied to help one person: 1. Open your host file located in this directory C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc file in Notepad or other text editor of your choice. 2. Add following lines to the file: 0.0.0.0 vortex-win.data.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net 0.0.0.0 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net 0.0.0.0 sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net 0.0.0.0 watson.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 watson.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net 0.0.0.0 redir.metaservices.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 choice.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 choice.microsoft.com.nsatc.net 0.0.0.0 df.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 services.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 sqm.df.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 watson.ppe.telemetry.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 telemetry.appex.bing.net 0.0.0.0 telemetry.urs.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 telemetry.appex.bing.net:443 0.0.0.0 settings-sandbox.data.microsoft.com 0.0.0.0 vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com 3. Save file. 0.0.0.0 vortex.data.microsoft.com
Check your network traffic if you can. I read somewhere that the telemetry bypasses/ignores the hosts file and needs blocking at the router. I've no way to verify that though as I don't have 10 installed and I've removed as much of the backported telemetry stuff in Win7/8.
That's a really good point, especially to check the difference before and after applying some changes. jadedog - if you would have trouble with this, I can guide you to some extent about what you need to do in Wireshark (great and free program to check network traffic) to test it. This article is a rather concise description, but if you would need some help than feel free to ask me. Although I think that it could better serve people if it would be kept open. Plus I would be really surprised if I would be the only one who can help (or provide best direction for that matter) ;).Check your network traffic if you can. I read somewhere that the telemetry bypasses/ignores the hosts file and needs blocking at the router.
Sure, but that does not mean I can't try to help 'staunch the bleeding' so to speak. Although I don't deny that it's more than likely that any such links can simply bypass host file by either built-in exception that takes precedence or by simply hardcoding them into system. Mainly guess on my part though, I have never intended to either make people think that that's an absolute fix nor make them extra paranoid. Either way, Windows 10 is not even adjacent to my problems. Debian on one computer, Mint on the other and OpenWRT on the router ;).
As a regular Windows 10 user, I wouldn't have even thought of it. I only went for third-party privacy enablers/stuff cutters because they were often mentioned online. It's not that I don't care about privacy: it's that I can't be bothered about it. It doesn't stare me in the face. I think a lot of people who use Windows on their PCs follow the same line.I think Microsoft feels that its OS is so integrated into people's systems that they'll just stop noticing. In some ways, they may be right.